No franchise in recent history has been maligned as much as our Charlotte Bobcats have been. After a 7-59 season you can say that it is kind of warranted, but why dwell on the past?
The one thing about a team that has fallen down as much as the Bobcats have is that it has to go up; there is nothing else for it to do. This is something that has to be done franchise wide too; not just on the court, but in the front office, the scouting department, etc.
Basically, the business of basketball has to improve as much as the product on the court.
I’ve written a few posts to this degree as have others on this site and all over the internet, but the product in Charlotte is going to be much better this year. With all the players that have been brought in this off season as well as a new coach it is hard to believe that the team will not do better this year.
That just leaves the business of basketball. So far I’d have to say that it is getting better.
I’m not privy to the inside track of what His Airness is doing or intends on, but there are a couple of moves that I think speak well of the direction the business side of the team is going.
First there are the new uniforms. Personally, I dig the darker navy blue. I think fans will find them easier to match up with other things, and that will encourage sales. It might seem silly to say that fans will buy more because it will match other things, but it’s true. I can see fair weather fans being more apt to buy something they think they will look good in.
Plus when you are trying to reinvent the team after such a bad season it doesn’t hurt to have a new look. Like ZZ Top said,”Cause every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man!”
Second is the news that the team is looking into having home game at venues other than Time Warner Cable Arena like PNC Arena, Greensboro Coliseum or the Dean Smith Center on the UNC Chapel Hill campus.
“Down the line we wouldn’t rule out a regular-season contest in an alternate market,” chief marketing officer Pete Guelli told the Charlotte Observer Thursday. “If we see the response as the team starts to improve, if that’s really going to help us from a marketing perspective, that’s something we’d consider.”
The move would be brilliant. Fans like to see their team play live. Not everyone is able to travel into Charlotte to see a game at Time Warner. Those folks are out of luck. However, if the team were to play in alternate arena you better believe fans that don’t normally get to see games will take advantage of the opportunity.
The idea can work. From 1933 to 1994 the Green Bay Packers used to play some home games in Milwaukee. If they did it for over 60 years you know it had to have worked!
What gets me excited about the business end getting better for the Bobcats is that means the overall health of the franchise will be much better. As that improves, the product on the court will improve as well.
Yea, it’s a long-term kind of vision, but when it all comes together—the business and the product—we’ll have one heck of a team!
